Kubinka (Moscow region). August 24. INTERFAX-Preliminary design of a high-speed stealth attack drone "Thunder" and capable of combining into a "swarm" of Lightning drones is underway, Sergey Bogatikov, general director of the Kronstadt UAV developer and manufacturer, said in an interview with Interfax.
"The high-speed heavy strike drone "Thunder" is at the stage of a preliminary project. The concept is as follows - "Thunder" will act independently in a group of manned and unmanned vehicles, as well as as a wingman of a manned fighter," Bogatikov said.
According to him, the company is also preparing materials for a draft project on the Molniya drones capable of conducting group actions.
"There are different proposals for this system-both in terms of size and technical solutions. Interaction with manned aviation will be mandatory - both with fighters and with Il-76 military transport aircraft, from which the Lightning air launch is planned, " the general director said.
"Thunder" is a 7-ton stealth-configuration drone, it is capable of reaching a speed of about 800 km/h and carrying up to 2 tons of combat load - aerial bombs with a caliber of 100, 250 and 500 kg, as well as guided missiles. The Thunder is equipped with four suspension points - two under the wing consoles and two inside the fuselage. The combat radius of application is 700 km.
Earlier, Kronstadt reported that the Thunder was designed to overcome the enemy's saturated air defense.
"Drones break through the air defense-maybe some of them will die, but we will not lose pilots. At the same time, they will fulfill part of the task - they will open the air defense, detect radar stations, destroy them," Vladimir Voronov, director of the Kronstadt Center for Advanced Studies, told Interfax at the Army 2020 forum.
